


bravery and lack thereof

by scintilla (adrarerien)



Series: thirty cheesy tropes challenge [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Minor Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Non-Linear Narrative, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tananoya are best friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-14 09:57:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15386286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adrarerien/pseuds/scintilla
Summary: Yuu just wants to be a little braver; wants to have the bravery to confront the dragon that curls its way up his ribs.thirty cheesy tropes challenge: (9) matching soulmate markings





	bravery and lack thereof

**Author's Note:**

> hhh so this is really different from my usual writing style and i'm not too sure how i feel about the non-linear structure but ,,, leGGO

**[+ 0.0]**

“Ohmygod Noya-san, you’re Saeko’s soulmate?” Yuu facepalms at this and counts his best friend’s denseness as a blessing.

**[- 9.2]**

Yuu is eight when he realises the significance of the dragon coiled on his ribs. His mother smiles fondly and speaks a tale that has him enchanted immediately. _Soulmates_. There’s someone, somewhere who is the other half of his soul. He too smiles and presses a hand lightly on the place where the amber and grey beast lies asleep.

**[- 2.9]**

He meets Tanaka Ryunosuke on his first day at Karasuno High and they get along like a house on fire. They’re kicked out of class within thirty minutes for disturbance or something of the like.

Further similarities are discovered in their love of volleyball and Shimizu Kiyoko.

He and Ryuu both are besotted with Kiyoko the moment they set eyes on her, even more so when she rejects them coolly and without a single word. “She’s perfect.” Ryuu sighs with the expression of a love-sick puppy.

The chase-and-reject cycle continues to the point where Yuu accepts that the most beautiful are made to be observed and worshipped from afar.

**[- 2.8]**

It’s only when he catches sight of the setting sun on Ryuu’s wrist that a soft “Oh,” escapes him. It doesn’t seem like something has clicked for him, but rather falling into something that was always subconsciously there. His head hurts.

**[- 1.8]**

It’s in the locker rooms after a long and tiring practise in their second year that the topic of soulmates arises.

“Hinata, what’s that on your back?” The hyperactive middle blocker in question spins around at the question, craning his neck to examine himself.

“What’s _what_?” Tsukishima looks up at the place where Yamaguchi is peering at and stifles a laugh behind his hand.

Daichi and Suga exchange an amused glance and both Yuu finds himself waggling his eyebrows at Ryuu. A crown is etched onto Hinata’s skin just where the back of his neck meets his shoulder.

“What is it?”

“It’s just a soulmate marking – surely even you know what that is?” Tsukishima’s dry voice breaks through Hinata’s momentary hysteria resulting in an excited squawk from Hinata.

“Really? What does it look like? Ooh, I wonder who my soulmate is! Kageyama, Kageyama, can you take a photo of it for me?”

Kageyama flushes at the sight of the mark and drops Hinata’s t-shirt onto his head, also effectively covering the mark. “D-don’t be ridiculous dumbass.” Yuu tries not to stare as the younger boy furiously tugs the sleeve of his dark jacket over a dark crow printed on his inner wrist.  He picks up his duffel and quickly escapes the room, with Hinata screeching indignantly behind him.

Ennoshita smiles deviously, “I think at this rate, it’ll be another  _year_ before they figure it out.”

“Don’t be an Enno-shit and please just save us from our misery.”

**[- 2.4]**

“When I meet my soulmate, I’m going to love her like no-one else ever will.” Ryuu sighs wistfully and rubs his wrist where a radiant sun is imprinted.

Yuu can only nod.

“Aren’t you excited to meet your soulmate?”

 _I already have_.

Yuu nods again and that’s the end of that.

**[- 1.9]**

Yuu is barely sixteen when Tanaka Ryuunosuke breaks his heart for the first time.

“Noya-san, I’ve found her, I just know it. You know that feeling when the sun beams down on you? So bright and warm, yet you look into it even though you know all it will do is blind you. She smiles and she’s blinding. She radiates warmth and light.”

Yuu ignores the cold creeping into his chest and dismisses it as a side effect of the winding winter days that seem to only get longer and longer. He lets out a laugh, “Who knew that a soulmate could have you waxing poetic like this Ryuu!”

Ryuu lets out an affronted sniff, “You’ll understand when you meet your soulmate!”

**[- 1.7]**

Hisakawa Aiko is small and has long dark hair. She smiles at Ryuu like he hung the stars in the sky, but the two bicker like an old married couple. Yuu pretends not to notice the fond smiles Ryuu slips her when he thinks no one else is looking, or the way his hands linger almost carefully on her waist, as if he holds the whole sky and all the sunsets past and present between his fingers. The dull feeling returns to Yuu’s chest. She’s perfect for him.

Yuu practices harder throughout the breaks of practice that day: beats his thighs and arms black and blue as Hisakawa feeds Ryuu strawberry Pocky between giggles. He pretends not to notice the look of concern Suga-san shoots him by Daichi’s side, or the look of thinly-veiled pity he receives from Ennoshita.

It’s hard to accept sympathy from people who are able to live out perfect love stories with their own soulmates.

**[- 2.4]**

Sometimes Yuu thinks that Ryuu gets it, thinks that sometimes he understands that the sun etched onto his left wrist is what marks Yuu as Ryuu’s. Sometimes Yuu catches Ryuu eyeing him with a look of wonder—especially after a spectacular save—and it fills him with a feeling of warmth that mimics, yet is so different from the giddy euphoria he feels when Ryuu yells words of encouragement and praise at him unabashedly.

 _It’s me_ , he wants to yell sometimes, _I’ll be your sunlight to warm you even on the darkest of days. Even as I descend into the darkness of the night, you’ll always have the warmth of my rays._

**[- 1.0]**

It’s just under a year later that Hinata and Kageyama walk into training late with matching blushes that run from the highest points of their faces all the way down past the the necks of their t-shirts. They refuse to look at each other, but their hands are still intertwined.

Tanaka whistles loudly and Daichi makes an offhand comment about everything falling into place. Ennoshita loses his bet, but it’s still okay: practice goes joyfully and Tsukishima takes every chance he gets to rib the two first years—if just to see the redness rise again on their faces.

Sometimes Yuu dreams of bravery and the safety that having a soulmate promises.

**[- 0.9]**

“Maybe we just weren’t meant to be.” Ryuu’s eyes are puffy and his nose is red and wet. He’s a mess, but Yuu finds the warmth and affection he has for his best friend doesn’t change.

He allows Ryuu to soak his shirt with tears from their awkward position and mismatched heights. After a while, Ryuu calms down enough to tell Yuu that _no matter how much he wanted to care for Aiko, she was never his._

Yuu feeds Ryuu ice-cream and promises to himself that he will be brave.

**[- 1.6]**

They’re lying flat on their backs after a particularly gruelling practice session and Ryuu is breathing hard next to him, a breathless grin on his face. The affection Yuu feels simmers and threatens to boil over.

The only surprise he feels is at his lack of surprise. _Oh_ , he thinks dully.

**[+ 0.0]**

His only response is to grip the shirt of the boy in front of him, tight enough so that his knuckles turn the same shade of white as Ryuu’s shirt.

**[- 2.9]**

_“My name is Nishinoya Yuu and I came here to play volleyball!”_

A boy with a shaved head had interrupted his introduction at that point and kicked his desk back in excitement, “ _My name is Tanaka Ryuunosuke and we’re going to be best friends in that case!”_

_“Sit down Tanaka-san, you’ll have a chance to make your own introduction soon.”_

**[+ 0.0]**

He kisses him.

**[- 2.8]**

“Noya-san, we’re going to be the best team!” Warmth blooms in his chest.

**[+ 0.0]**

Ryuu kisses him back, gentle and hesitant. _Maybe not so dense afterall._

**[- 2.4]**

“Sometimes I think I’m just in love with the idea of soulmates: the person in the world most perfect for you. But, maybe if I didn’t have a soulmate I’d be okay too. I think sometimes that I just want someone to tell me I’m enough.”

“Ryuu, you’re more than enough.”

**[+ 0.0]**

When they separate, Ryuu is staring at him with that same look of wonder and Yuu feels sunlight seeping from his skin.

Ryuu stares at him like he’s looking into the sun: somewhat dumbfounded by the brightness, but entranced nonetheless.

**[- 1.3]**

Sometimes Yuu still remembers the fury and betrayal on Ryuu’s face when Yuu reveals he has been suspended from the club. _“Why would you be so willing to sacrifice your dreams?”_

_“My dream isn’t complete if our team isn’t complete.”_

_“I thought_ we _were the best team.”_

 _“Don’t be so selfish Ryuu.”_ They didn't speak for a long while during that time, but Yuu had still found himself regretting his words even now. He can only be glad that it’s in the past now.

**[+ 0.0]**

A blinding grin paints its way onto Ryuu’s face and Yuu finds himself dumbly mirroring the expression. Yuu has his hands wrapped tightly around Ryuu’s wrists and the tiny sun marking radiates warmth through where they touch.

**Author's Note:**

>  _When asked about Nishinoya's name origin, Furudate said, "The evening sun that sets in the western valley! But I still think the name Yū doesn’t fit Nishinoya!"_ and _Ryūnosuke (龍之介) - Assistance of a Dragon_  
>   
>  anyways idk where this came from i'm sorry lmao but this is the effort i'll go to to procrastinate rip mE


End file.
